Sept. 22. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



221 



at least the whole of this " history." Saxo's style 

 is elaborate and stately : 



" Ita votum omne foemineum, fortunse varietas abripit, 

 temporum mutatio dissolvit, et muliebris animi fidem 

 lubrico nixam vestigio, fortuiti rerum casus extenuant : 

 qu£e sicut ad polliceadum facilis, ita ad persolvendum 

 sequis: variis voluptatis irritamentis astringitur, atque 

 ad recentia semper avidius expetenda, veterum immemor : 

 anhela, praeceps cupiditate dissultat." 



This is said after Hamlet had experienced, as a 

 bigamist, the conduet of his two wives cotempo- 

 raneously, in addition to the troubles involved in 

 his mother's conduct. Pie is a great favourite 

 with Saxo, who concludes the exit of Hamlet by 

 saying : 



" Hie Amlethi exitus fuit, qui si parem naturae atque 

 fortunaj indulgentiam expertus fuisset, sequasset fulgore 

 superos, Herculea virtutibus opera transcendisset." 



But as Saxo dilates much on the cunning and 

 talents of Hamlet, for which Hercules was not 

 remarkable, and has nothing to say as to his 

 strength and powers of endurance, Mercury would 

 have been a more suitable deity with whom to 

 compare him (HLstoria Danor., lib. Iv, p. 31. a., 

 Basil, 1534). The Hamlet of Shakspeare is quite 

 a distinct conception from the historical " Amlet."* 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



Lichfield. 



ABCHBISHOP WILLIAMS, 1582 — 1650. 



" Williams," says Mr. Macaulny, " was one of 

 those who are wiser for others than for them- 

 selves." The remark is beyond question just; 

 for no one knew better how to counsel a banished 

 courtier, and no one so quickly lost all presence 

 of mind when in disgrace himself. He gave ad- 

 mirable advice to Buckingham respecting the 

 monopolies granted to Sir Giles Mompesson and 

 others, which were so lucrative to that noble- 

 man's family. He recommended him not to de- 

 fend them, and to contrive that punishment might 

 fall entirely on the agents. But his sagacity failed 

 him in moments of danger ; then he invariably 

 acted without judgment, and suff'ered accordingly. 



Posterity has been hard on Williams. He was 

 one of the last of those prelates who aimed at 

 immense political influence, and who combined 

 the duties and privileges of laymen and eccle- 

 siastics. As Keeper of the Great Seal, he finds a 

 place in Lord Campbell's Lives. In the Church 

 he was successively Dean of Westminster, Bishop 

 of Lincoln, and Archbishop of York. He Is known 

 as the early patron of Laud, who, true to his 

 nature, returned good with evil. 



As a politician, his conduct was often reprehen- 

 He was not straightforward. He shifted 



sible 



* The latter should, howef^er, be read and studied by an 

 actor of this very difficult character. 

 No. 308.] 



about ; and, though to the last a party man, he 

 was never long of the same party. Like all poli- 

 tical speculators, he sometimes mistook the tide. 

 He was a prisoner in the Tower ; and twice paid 

 heavy fines, at the instance of Laud. To meet 

 them his valuables were sold — pictures, for which 

 he had given 400Z., fetching 51. (Campbell's Life 

 of Williams.) 



He did much for the Church and the advance- 

 ment of learning. He restored Westminster 

 Abbey at his own expense. He rebuilt the epi- 

 scopal palace at Buckden, and Lincoln College, 

 Oxford. He was a munificent benefactor to St. 

 John's College, Cambridge,* where he had been 

 educated: He devoted 1200Z. a-year to assist 

 poor scholars. Many a man of genius, in church 

 and state, owed much to his helping hand. Per- 

 haps his most graceful act was presenting George 

 Herbert to the prebendal stall of Leighton Eccle- 

 sia, in his diocese of Lincoln. Williams undoubt- 

 edly shows to advantage fts the patron, and not as 

 the politician. "I would sooner remember him 

 as the friend of Herbert, than the enemy of Laud," 

 is a remark worthy of Mr. Willmott.f 



He was, however, a faithful servant. Nothing 

 could exceed his devotion when James I. lay 

 dying ; and when, in his old age, he heard the sad 

 news of Charles' violent end, he burst into an 

 agony of grief, and declared that " he never would 

 take comfort more." 



A good life of Williams is much wanted. Like 

 Wolsey, he had an "honest chronicler," Dr. 

 Hacket, who had been his chaplain, poured forth 

 a lament after his death, in which he ascribed to 

 him the virtues of an angel. Later writers have 

 reversed the picture. Such extreme views must 

 be erroneous. Feeling that Williams had many 

 faults, and that his public conduct was often 

 marked by interested motives, I am convinced 

 that an impartial biographer would discover much 

 that was good in his hero. Despite his grandeur, 

 he grows pale beside such men as Ken and San- 

 croft. Admitting this, I still see a prelate de- 

 voted to good works ; and in no age may we speak 

 lightly of those who never forgot the poor and 

 needy. 



Williams was not buried in his cathedral. He 

 rests in a humble country churchyard near Pen- 

 rhyn. Dr. Hacket wrote an epitaph, which, in 

 point of flattery, is an epitome of the Scrinia 

 Reserata. J. Virtue Wtnen. 



1. Portland Terrace, Dalaton. 



* August 31, 1654. " This evening to Cambridge ; and 

 went first to St. John's College, well built of brick, and 

 library which I think is the fairest of that University . . . 

 There hangs in the library the picture of John Williams, 

 Archbishop of York, sometime Lord Keeper, my kinsman 

 and their great benefactor." — Evelyn. 



t Lives of Sacred Poets, vol. i. p. 268., Art. Hekbbrt. 



